Dow High grad earns Emmy for work with MSU hoops

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, November 21, 2013

Jacob Huber grew up playing Little League baseball and other sports and knew one day he would attend Michigan State University.

The H.H. Dow High graduate managed to combine his love of sports and MSU into a successful broadcasting career, recently earning an Emmy award for his work on a program celebrating the men’s basketball team return to Jenison Field House.

“Somehow after (Little League), I just always found a way to stay involved in sports, either as a player, an umpire for the City of Midland, a fan, now what I do at MSU,” he said in an interview with the Daily News.

It was when he graduated and went to college that he figured out that he wanted to stay involved with sports, this time on a different side.

“It just seemed like sports video would be a great way to stay involved, and I got lucky with the way things worked out to get in the door right here,” he said. He worked with the sports program as a student and got involved as much as possible, which led to his permanent employment with the college.

Huber is a video producer for his alma mater and primarily works with the men’s basketball program (though he also works with other sports, including football). He calls it a “dream job,” as it is has given him opportunity to travel.

During basketball season, Mondays mean he’s working press conferences and producing the Spartan Basketball All Access program which airs on Fox Sports Detroit (scheduled for air at 5:30 p.m.)

“There are media availabilities and games to cover. Recaps to edit and load to our website (www.msuspartans.com), interviews to conduct, show ideas to review, schedule interviews, conduct interviews, edit and then try and spend some time with my family when I am not working,” he said in an interview with the Daily News. “It gets pretty hectic at times.”

Huber earned his Michigan Emmy in the Sports - Daily or Weekly category for an episode of Spartan All Access “Jenison Weekend.” The program documented a return to the former home of Spartan basketball, where the Spartans played a game for the first time since 1989. It was a one-shot affair

“The idea was conceived by our Athletic Director Mark Hollis to bring a game back to Jenison Field House which hosted MSU basketball from 1940 until 1988. The weekend was centered around the 50th anniversary of what was called “The Game of Change” in which Mississippi State and Loyola of Chicago played a 1963 NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional semifinal game in the building,” he said.

He thinks Emmy voters picked up on a few things.

“The show did a good job of capturing the feelings and conveying the excitement of those involved in this event. Everyone involved was genuinely excited to be a part of an event at Jenison Field House one more time,” Huber said.

But a segment about Mike Peplowski, a former player who worked very hard to overcome some physical ailments to be able to play one more time in the old venue, may have pushed the show over the top.

"It was something that I just stumbled on. I had not planned to feature a story like this, but happened by him working out and thought it would be cool to include some footage of what it would take for some of these guys to be able to play in this game,” Huber said. “That segment may well have stole the show.”

While the Emmy award is quite prestigious. Huber has no shortage of career highlights. He was involved in the 2009 Final Four when MSU played at Ford Field “in front of one of the most electric crowds I have ever seen.”

“The best part of the 2009 Final Four was just the excitement of everyone who was there,” he said. “We had a pep rally at the Somerset Mall in Troy before our first game that drew 7,000 people. There were so many people in fact, the fire marshal ordered the mall to close their doors. All of that for a pep rally!”

Another highlight was working on a game played on an aircraft carrier in 2011. The Spartans played the University of North Carolina Tarheels on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

“It was an unbelievable experience just to see an active aircraft carrier, but then to witness the men and women in our armed forces during different parts of their day on board this floating city was maybe the most moving part of the whole experience —even with getting a chance to meet President Obama before the game,” he said.

For now, Huber is busy with basketball season underway and his show starting Dec. 9. He’ll be following the Spartans for another season full of highlights.